Some unusual marine red algae (Rhodophyta) from South Africa

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Abstract
Four marine red algal genera are reported from South Africa for the first time. Rhodochortonopsis spongicola Yamada, a species known only from Japan, is described from plants occurring on a polychaete tube in association with a sponge. Previously known only from tetrasporangial plants, female reproductive structures and cystocarps that probably belong to this species are described from Natal material. The structure of the cystocarpic plants suggests a possible classification in the Gigartinales, but the final ordinal position of Rhvdochorlonopsis should remain undecided pending further investigations. Intertidal specimens of a species of Halichrysis (Rhodymeniales) are compared with other species in that genus, and it is concluded that these plants are H. coalescens (Farlow) R.E. Norris et A.J.K. Millar comb. nov. (Basionym: Herpophyllon coalescens Farlow). South African specimens of Gloiocladia iyoensis (Okamura) R.E. Norriscomb. nov. (Basionym: Gloioderma iyoensis Okamura) are compared with the type species of Gloiocladia (Rhodymeniales), G.jurcala J. Agardh, and it is concluded that previously recognized distinctions between Gloiocladia and Gloioderma are untenable. The transfer of a number of species of Gloioderma and Fauchea to Gloiocladia is thus proposed, although the genus Fauchea is maintained for species with tetrasporangia in nemathecoid sori. A single cystocarpic plant and two tetrasporophytes from Natal are provisionally assigned to Microphyllum borneense Weber-van Bosse (Rhodymeniales), a species previously known only from Borneo.

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